Paper-feeding machine.



B. F. UPHAIVI.

PAPER FEEDING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED JULY 13'. m5.

Patented Sept. 12, 1916.

BURT 1F. UPHAM, 0F BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR T0 UNITED PRINTINGMACHINERY COMPANY, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MAINE.

PAPER-FEEDING MACHINE.

1's! WWIW wIw-wwm "Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. T2, 1191M...

Application filed July M, 1915. Serial No. 39,679.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, BURT I UPHAM, a citizen of the United States,residing at Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Paper-FeedingMachines; and I hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, andexact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, which form part of this specification.

This invention relates to so called automatic feeders" for automaticallyfeeding sheets of paper to the impression cylinders of printing presses,or to other mechanisms for operating upon such sheets. Customarily suchfeeders are wholly or partly mounted upon the ordinary feed board ortable of such press or mechanism, and in case the feeder becomesdisarranged or broken, or it may .be necessary or desired to feed sheetsof paper to the press by hand, it is necessary to move the automaticfeeding mechanism out of the way, so that the sheets can be fed by handfrom the feed table to the machine.

The object of the present invention is to provide simple novel meanswhich will enable sheets to be fed by hand off of the ordinary feedtable when desired withoutthe operator having to first remove orwithdraw the automatic sheet feeding devices; but instead the automaticfeed can be stopped and by simply shifting a light conveyer the feedtable is cleared and sheets can be' placed thereon and fed from thetable by hand; or the feed board of the press can be raised and thepress or cylinder made ready for printing.

I will explain the invention in connection with one type of automaticsheet feeder conventionally illustrate-d in the accompanying drawingswhich will enable those skilled in the art to adopt and use theinvention with other automatic feeders; I do not herein claim anyparticular construction of automatic feeding mechanism per see, as thatmay be varied to suit the will of the constructor, the present inventionhaving more particular reference to an adjustable sheet conveyer bywhich sheets can be carried from the automatic feeder over the feedtable to the press cylinder or other receiver, and which conveyer can bemoved over the feed board and under the feeder 1nto and out of operativeposition, and can thus be readily adjusted to either transfer sheetsfrom the automatic feeder to the press, or out of the way to permit thefeed table to be used in the ordinary manner and sheets fed by handtherefrom.

Referring to said drawings: Figure 1 is a d agrammatic side elevation ofan automatic sheet feeding mechanism applied to a printlng press andshowing the feeder and the adjustable sheet conveyer in posit on fordelivering sheets to the press cylinder. Fig. 2 is a similar viewshowing the sheet conveyer retracted so that the sheets can be fed fromthe table by hand in the ordinary manner; it also indicates in dottedlines the conveyer partially retracted and the feed board raised topermit making ready the press. Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail view of theforward end of the conveyer.

In said drawings C indicates the impres sion cylinder; G the dropguides, and T the feed table of a printing press, of ordinaryconstruction; said feed table having a feed board If hinged to itsforward end, at If, as usual, and sheets of paper can be fed from thetable T over the board If up against the drop guides G by which thefront edge of each sheet is arrested in position to be caught bythegripping fingers (not shown) on the cylinder C in the usual manner.

An automatic sheet feeding mechanism of any desired construction has itshead 1 mounted upon the outer end of the feed table T. To this head 1 isconnected the front end of the sheet support 2 the rear end of which ismounted upon uprights 3. The head 1 carries the operative parts of anautomatic sheet feeding mechanism, of any suitable construction, adaptedto feed sheets of paper S from the support 2 onto a conveyer, preferablyformed of endless tapes 4, by which such sheets are carried over thetable T to the drop guides G in the usual manner.

As indicated in the drawings the automatic feeding mechanism comprises acomber a adapted to successively advance sheets of paper S lying uponsupport 2 to a feed roll 6' and its co-acting drop roll I), by which thesheet is advanced to and over the slow down roll 0 which directs thesheet onto conveyer 4, and also in connection with its coacting droproller 0 slows down the sheet at the proper time.

The comber a and rolls 5, 0, may be driven as usual by any suitablemeans, not shown, to cause them to successively feed forward the sheetsfrom support 2 in the proper time and manner when the automatic feederis in use. The roll 4* may be driven from said sheet feeding means byany suitable devices (not shown) so that the conveyer tapes will bemoved at the proper speed'to carry the sheets forward over the table Tto the drop guides at the proper time. The conveyer tapes 4 run from adriven roll P mounted in head 1, to and over a roller 4? journaled inthe forward ends of an adjustable conveyer frame having side bars 5,thence back over an idler 5 journaled in the said conveyer frame, andthence back to roll 4. Theforward end of the conveyer frame may besupported by rollers 5 attached to the side bars 5 of the frame (seeFig. 3) rollers 5 running upon the top of the board t and table T. Thebars 5 are provided with rack teeth 5 on their upper edges which teethengage pinions 6 on a shaft 6 journaled in the head 1. Shaft 6 can beoperated by a crank 6 on one end thereof so as to project or retract theconveyer frame.

When the conveyer frame is projected forwardly over the feed table T, asin Fig. l, the conveyer will receive and carry the sheets fed from table2 toward the drop guides. The forward end'of the conveyer frame may beprovided with guide fingers 7 pivotally attached to a shaft or rod 5 onthe conveyor frame which guides direct the sheets brought forward by theendless tapes to and against the drop guides G.

The conveyer frame may be of any suit able construction which willpermit it to be projected forwardly beyond the head 1 as indicated inFig. 1 so as to carry sheets over the feed table T to the drop guides G;or permit it to be retracted rearwardly beneath the head 1 and support 2as indicated in full lines in Fig. 2 to permit sheets to be fed by handfrom table T. Then the conveyer frame is retracted, as indicated in Fig.2, its rear end may be supported by any suitable means, as by rollers 9suspended below the table 2.

Operation: By properly turning crank 6 the conveyer frame can beprojected from beneath the head 1 and over table 2 as indicated in Fig.1 so that it will properly forward the sheets from the automaticfeedready the press; and after the press is made ready the feed board tcan be lowered and the conveyer 41: returned to normal operativeposition as indicated in Fig. 1. If it should be desired for any reasonto feed sheets by hand from table T, the crank 6 can be turned so as toretract the conveyer beneath the automatic feeder into the positionindicated in full lines in Fig. 2 and a pile of sheets S can then beplaced on said feed table as indicated in Fig. 2, and fed therefrom byhand in the usual manner.

What I claim is:

1. In combination with mechanism for operating upon sheets, and a feedtable adapted to support sheets to be fed to such mechanism by hand; ofautomatic sheet feeding means supported upon the rear end of said table,and a slidable sheet conveyer adapted to be projected from beneath theautomatic sheet feeding means over the feed table to carry sheets fromthe automatic feeding means over the feed table to the mechanism foroperating upon sheets, or to be retracted off the feed table and beneaththe automatic sheet feeding means to per mit sheets to be fed by handfrom said feed table to the mechanism for operating upon sheets.

2. In combination a mechanism for operating upon sheets having a feedtable, and automatic sheet feeding means mounted upon the said table;with an adjustable sheet conveyer mounted to slide beneath the automaticsheet feeding means and over the said feed table, and means whereby saidconveyer can be projected from beneath the automatic sheet feeding meansover the table to carry sheets from the said sheet feeding means to thesaid mechanism, or said conveyer can be retracted off the table andbeneath the automatic sheet feeding means to permit sheets to be placedon said feed table and fed manually therefrom to said mechanism.

8. In combination mechanism for operating upon sheets having a feedtable, and an automatic sheet feeding means mounted upon the rear end ofsaid table; with a sheet conveyer mounted to slide beneath the automaticsheet feeding means and over the said feed table, and manually operablemeans whereby said conveyer can be projected from beneath the automaticsheet feeding means over the table into position to carry sheets fromthe said automatic feeding means to the said mechanism, or can beretracted oli the table toward and beneath the said feeding means topermit a pile of sheets to be placed on the feed table and fed manuallytherefrom.

4. In combination with the feed table of a printing press and anautomatic sheet feeding means mounted upon the rear end of said table;of an adjustable slidable sheet conveyer mounted upon the table andadaptmay em lam ed to slide beneath the said automatic sheet feedingmeans and over the said feed table, and means whereby said conveyer canbe projected from beneath the automatic sheet feeding means over thetable to carry sheets from the said sheet feedin means to the press, orsaid conveyer can Iue retracted ofi the table and beneath the saidautomatic sheet feedin means to permit sheets to be placed on said feedtable and fed manually therefrom.

5. In combination with a printing press having a feed table; of anautomatic sheet feeder mounted upon the rear end of said table, a sheetconveyer mounted to slide beneath the said automatic feeder and over thesaid feed table having toothed side bars and manually operable gearsengaging said toothed bars whereby said conveyer can be projected frombeneath the automatic feeder over the table into position to carrysheets from the said automatic feeder to the press cylinder, or can beretracted off the table and beneath the said automatic feeder to permita pile of sheets. to be placed on the eed table and fed manuallytherefrom.

6. In combination, mechanism for operating upon sheets, a feed tableadapted to support sheets to be fed to such mechanism by hand, andautomatic sheet feeding -means adjacent the rear end of said table; withan adjustable sheet transfer means adapted to be projected from beneaththe feed mechanism over the table in position to direct sheets from thefeeding devices to the operating means or to be retracted off the tableand beneath the feeding means out of the way.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I affix my signaturein presence of two witnesses.

' BURT F. UPHAM.

Witnesses:

JOHN CALDER, JOHN J. CQAKLEY.

